Volume 33, Issue 1, 2024
DOI: 10.53555/03276716.2024.02
Prevalence of Social Anxiety Disorder in Patients with Schizophrenia
Abstract
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) or social phobia, although not included among the required symptoms for the diagnosis of schizophrenia (SZ), it is frequently observed before and after the onset of the disease and may represent either a prodromal manifestation, residual syndrome or of illness progression. We assess social anxiety in stable outpatients with SZ. A cross-sectional study was carried. We recruted outpatients with SZ diagnosis from Schizophrenia Program (PRODESQ) by Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA). Sample included both genders with ages between 18-70 years. SZ diagnosis must meet DSM-5-TR and ICD10 criteria, SAD by Liebowitz Anxiety Scale (LSAS), psychopathology by Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Generalized Anxiety by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Of the 82 patients meeting the inclusion criteria, 59 met LSAS threshold of 32; among them 12.2% were mild (scores 32-43), 29.3% moderate (scores from 44-81) and 30.5% severe (above 82 points). Therefore, almost three-quarters (72%) of outpatients with SZ fulfill SAD criteria, mostly at moderate to severe degree. This data must be confirmed in larger samples including additional measures, biochemical and structural, that if confirmed, can provide information for the development of new forms of treatment of people with the diagnosis of SZ, addressing associated disability and damage linked to social anxiety, with the focus on better outcomes in SZ.
Keywords
social anxiety; schizophrenia, anxiety; psychopathology; cross-sectional study.